


The Next Ten Minutes

by broken_hearted_bard



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, HP: EWE, Harry pov, M/M, Major Character Death (Severus), Mpreg, Multi, Other Pairings Only Mentioned, Severus POV, Soulmates, mostly canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 20:18:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6391828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_hearted_bard/pseuds/broken_hearted_bard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most witches and wizards have Soulmates. You know that you have one, when you begin getting glimpses of their lives -- for ten minutes, every night. These glimpses last for only ten minutes and are from the perspective of your soulmate, so it can be hard to figure out who they are -- with just ten minutes.</p><p>You're always waiting for the next ten minutes. Always.<br/>Harry/Severus (main pairing).<br/>Other pairings are mentioned, which include: Ginny/Blaise, Draco/Hermione, Ron/Lavender, Remus/Bill, Neville/George, Dean/Seamus.<br/>Canon through HBP, mostly canon through DH. EWE.</p><p>Soulmate magicks are complex and intricate. They became popular in Britain during the war with Dark Lord Ash Bramamian in 1910. Soulmate magicks are almost entirely used in the UK, and are seen very rarely outside of it. The soulmate spell, Anmicus Conjunae, is traditionally performed on the fetus in vitro and takes many years to come to fruition. In some cases, the Soulmate spell activates at the age of eleven, while in others it activates once the person's soulmate is born. There are several documented cases of the spell being performed on muggle-born witches and wizards sometime after the age of eleven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Severus.

**Author's Note:**

> Two days ago, I was listening to The Last Five Years on repeat, and then that night I had this dream. I couldn't get it out of my head, so I thought I'd better go ahead and write this one down.
> 
> Story note: My timeline is advanced by ten years. So, that makes Severus Snape born 9 January, 1970, death 2 May, 2008. And Harry Potter, birth 31 July, 1990 -- instead of the author's timeline. This makes it all much closer to the film timelines, than the books.

_**Severus** _

He had known for quite some time. He'd had the visions for years -- many, many years of ten-minute viewings from his soulmate's eyes. He'd been twenty when the visions had begun, and they had been confusing and out of focus. So fuzzy and blurred, he hadn't had any idea who was seeing what or what they were seeing.

Six years later, the visions finally became clear. Though she hadn't looked much like she had as a child or teenager, he had recognized Petunia Evans from the last time he'd seen her -- at Lily's funeral.

He hadn't been invited, but had, instead, stood at the back under a disillusionment charm. His grief had known no bounds, no respite, and he'd felt that attending might help him achieve some peace. He'd been mistaken. 

There'd been no magick at the funeral, as was usually the case when a witch or wizard died, and James and Lily hadn't had joint funerals -- which he assumed was because Petunia hated Potter just as much as he did.

When the ceremony was over, Petunia had left the burying details to Albus, and had, he presumed, gone back home. At the grave site, they had used magick to lower Lily's coffin into the ground beside her husband. Long after everyone else had left, he had stood, tears dripping down his face, head bowed, at her grave.

The ten-minute visions had started that same night. Blurry, out-of-focus, seemingly cold. They had done nothing but make every ounce of grief he felt worse.

He had wondered, at first, six years later, if there was any possibility that another wizard lived with or was friends with Petunia Dursley, nee Evans. It had taken one short, nearly violent conversation with the Headmaster to disabuse him of that notion.

***

He'd watched with reverence, every night, over the years, during those ten minutes. He'd come to find the glimpses of Harry's life, through Harry's eyes, comforting and bolstering. Especially once he'd returned to spying.

He counted on his ten-minutes a night with Harry, though he knew it was a one-way doorway. The glimpses of Harry's life, his time at the Burrow, his conversations with Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, his flights on his Firebolt...they all gave him a feeling of serenity, almost, of peace.

His Occlumency shields and powers were such that he had no fear of the Dark Lord ever finding out his secrets, and he was grateful for them. 

He'd known, without doubt, that Harry hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire -- because he could tell a lie from the truth in Harry's eyes. He'd understood, when he hadn't wanted too, that Petunia, her husband and child both hated and feared Harry and that his homelife was not what it should be.

From afar, he gazed on the boy and watched him become a man. He harboured no illusions, and no desires of the flesh -- he merely enjoyed watching a life come to fruition. These nightly visions were the one blessing in his life, even if he did mildly resent being the soulmate of the Boy Who Lived. He also mildly resented having his soulmate be someone it was wholly inappropriate for him to be with, but...he put that aside in favor of protecting Harry. He would always protect Harry.

He'd figured out, early on and then later with confirmation from Albus, that Harry was a horcrux. He struggled with the inability to disclose such to Harry. He battled internally with Albus's geis about that knowledge.

Still, he greeted each ten-minute interval with a sense of longing, wonder and...if he admitted it to himself, happiness. He didn't enjoy Harry's suffering, when he saw something to that effect, but he did enjoy looking upon Harry's life as a silent observer.

He waited each and every night for those ten minutes -- especially after Albus's death and during the year he was Headmaster. He needed to know that Harry was safe, that he was doing what he should be, and he had to know when Harry needed help.

***

He'd seen Harry walk down the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley in a whirlwind of awe and astonishment; he'd seen the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets; he'd watched Harry walk back through time with the intent to save his godfather (and grumbled to himself all the while); he'd discovered Harry's quiet, shy, adorable and slightly ashamed crush on Cedric Diggory and puzzled over Harry's reaction.

He'd been there through Harry's grief -- first about his godfather, second about Albus, third about Hedwig. He'd watched when Harry had gone on his first, and last, date. He'd watched when Harry had left the Half-Blood Prince's potions book in the Room of Hidden Things -- and had gone to retrieve it well before the room had gone up in flames.

He'd watched Harry read and re-read the same page in the Half-Blood Prince's potions book, and stroke the pages reverently. He'd been as confused as Harry over his obsession with Draco Malfoy, and had hoped, as he watched, that Harry would let it go. He couldn't afford to mess up what he was trying to accomplish with Draco, but he also didn't know what he'd do if Harry got involved with the situation.

***

Severus had seen everything, in ten-minute glimpses. So much so, that he knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Harry deserved so much more than him -- he, a broken down man who had made desperate and horrifying choices, who'd had no choice, who had done despicable things even if he would, somehow, come out on top of it.

Severus was prepared to die for the cause, and he only hoped it would happen before Harry figured out that he, Severus Snape, was his soulmate.

***

His wish, however honest and truthful, however, wasn't to happen.

In the Forest of Dean, Severus crouched by a tree and sent his patronus in search of Harry Potter. He'd already left the Sword of Gryffindor at the bottom of the lake, and now he just needed to wait and see what happened next.

To say that he was surprised to have Weasley save the day, was an understatement. But, when he didn't leave quite quick enough and Harry sought him out afterwards, he was bowled over with shock and awe.

Harry didn't hate him, he understood a lot more than he'd let on in their previous encounters. Hope bloomed in his heart, while lust clouded his brain as Harry lunged for him.

They'd had sex on the forest floor. It was hot, messy, frantic, somewhat painful, desire-fueled, dangerous and careless. It was the single-best event in Severus's life, and he would remember it, fondly, forever. But it was never to be repeated. He'd left, after some quiet, hopeful words, and knew that it was the last time he'd ever see Harry so uncomplicated.

***

In the castle, before the final battle, Harry's words struck a chord, but he'd also noticed Harry's lack of conviction -- and was grateful he was the only one who'd noticed.

He'd fled quickly. It wouldn't do to be so close to the finish and get discovered now.

***

The Shrieking Shack was dank, musty and cold as he bled out on the floor.

Harry's face loomed over him, asking him to hold on, to not let go, to not leave him all alone. All of this was, of course, said without words. Harry's fingers pressed into the wound that Severus could no longer feel.

Tears, and the memories they contained, began to drip down his face.

"Take them, please," Severus begged.

"Give me something, a vial, anything, quickly!" Harry cried to Hermione.

Harry bent gently and pressed the lip of the vial to Severus's face, taking the memories and tears with him.

"Take them to the pensieve, Harry," Severus whispered. 

Harry nodded.

"Look at me," Severus said gruffly. His voice was strained and raspy.

As Harry's bright, bottle-green eyes focused on his dark, liquid-ink eyes, Severus smiled.

His death was not surprising to him, but he hoped that Harry would not grieve -- he deserved happiness, not to bemoan the dark memory of a man too tainted to ever truly believe in forgiveness.

Light greeted him as he left the world of the living. He looked down upon Harry on his way and finally realized: Harry would succeed.

***************************


	2. Harry.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, we're ignoring Lavender's death, and Remus's too.  
> Er...Harry doesn't get rid of the Elder Wand.

**_Harry_ **

It had taken him four and a half years to realize that his soulmate was Severus Snape. He hadn't known how he'd felt about it, once it was made clear to him.

It was, ultimately, the visions which had him blaming Severus for Sirius's death a year later. It wasn't fair, and it was blatantly untrue, as he'd seen Severus rush to the Order to discover if Sirius really had been captured. But, the visions confused him. They made it easier for him to believe that the visions coming from the Dark Lord were real. The only difference, in his mind, was that he was awake for one and asleep for the other. Not even Hermione could argue with his logic there, though she'd tried to.

When he'd first started having them, in his first year at Hogwarts, he hadn't understood what was happening. No one had told him that wizards and witches had soulmates; no one had told him these soulmates were revealed with ten-minute visions.

It had been odd to him, to look around the dormitory and see all the other boys frozen in mid-motion as they gazed, unseeingly, at the ceiling. Ron was half out and half into bed; Neville was sitting on the floor, listlessly; Seamus and Dean were sitting on the floor in the middle of an Exploding Snap game. Harry remembered that the cards had continued to play, and explode, while they stared off into space.

The first vision had hit him, causing him to fall back onto his bed. It had been painful, not pleasant, and he'd had no idea what was going on. When he'd come-to, Neville had quietly explained about the ten-minute visions and soulmates and what it all meant for him.

He'd assumed accurately, for the first few years, that his soulmate was a Slytherin. He had suspected, until he'd talked it over with Hermione, that it was Draco Malfoy and, more importantly, that soulmates were your same age.

***

It had become clear to Harry, just after the rise of the Dark Lord, that Severus Snape was his soulmate. What other wizard, or person on Merlin's green earth really, made exquisite, excellent potions, had both a house and quarters in the Dungeons, went to both Order and Death Eater meetings, had no real friends save the Headmaster, and was a spy for the light?

With all of these clues, it was laughable that it had taken Harry so long to figure it out. But, once he did, he set out to fix it. To have some semblance of a relationship with Severus Snape.

***

It had all come tumbling together in the Forest of Dean, two years after he'd first realized his soulmate was Severus. Harry had leapt at the chance for a connection with him, and had jumped in with both feet before understanding the terrain.

Afterwards, they laid in each other's arms, under the canopy of trees, and Severus had whispered heartfelt, tender words about their encounter, before they'd both scrambled back into their clothing.

Harry had walked slowly back to camp with a newfound sense of belonging, but he'd understood that the feeling of warmth, tenderness, care and trust would be short-lived.

***

He hadn't expected Severus to die. He really hadn't.

In the Shack, with Severus's blood pouring over Harry's fingers, he still hadn't realized that Severus would die. He'd thought....he didn't know what he'd thought, but he'd expected that soulmate magick wouldn't let one of the pair die -- and certainly not this way.

He'd been wrong.

He'd come out of the Shack, gone back to the castle with Ron and Hermione, and left them to make his way to Dumbledore's office.

In the pensieve, he'd seen the truth that he'd already known -- that Severus had nearly always been on the side of the light. He'd also seen other things which he hadn't known -- Severus's love for Harry's mother, Lily; Severus's relationship with his own mother, Eileen; Severus's joy at watching Harry become a man; Severus's profound grief over Albus's death; and many, many more moments. It was as if, in his final moments, Severus had bestowed upon Harry not just those most important memories, but all of his memories.

In the glowing little vial, all of Severus's life laid bare for Harry's view.

He'd known, then, that his own death was imminent and wondered if he'd join Severus in the hereafter. He'd walked, head held high, out of the office and, after a brief conversation with Hermione and Ron, to his death. 

He hadn't been afraid. He'd welcomed it.

***

He'd been alarmed, weary, and saddened to see Severus when he'd used the Resurrection Stone. Although he had expected James, Lily and Sirius with the use of the stone, seeing Severus, having him talk so soothingly to him, had confirmed his death and brought new meanings to the term grief for Harry.

"Those we love," Sirius said softly, "never really leave us."

Harry blinked back tears and nodded. It wasn't the first time he'd heard Sirius say that, but he understood it was the last.

Severus looked on, head bowed, and continued to be with him long after Harry had dropped the stone on the ground. He was the only one that stayed through the confrontation with Voldemort. Everyone else had already faded away, and the meaning wasn't lost on Harry.

****

After the battle was over, after Severus's body was collected from the Shack and even, days later, after the funerals for those that had passed, Harry returned to the forest.

He hadn't, as he'd earlier intended, destroyed the Elder Wand. With it, he accio'd the Resurrection Stone. He didn't use it, and he had no intention of doing so. The secret he carried lived within him -- had survived the weeks in a tent, the final battle, and his own death.

He wouldn't take his future with him into the past by using the stone.

******************


	3. Epilogue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.
> 
> Other pairings are mentioned, which include: Ginny/Blaise, Draco/Hermione, Ron/Lavender, Remus/Bill, Neville/George, Dean/Seamus.
> 
> END note SPOILS the chapter, so read it after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bill/Fleur mention -- Victoire Fleur Weasley is the kid they have together.  
> Remus/Tonks mention -- Edward Remus "Teddy" Lupin being their son.
> 
> Eileen, alternatively spelt Aileen, is an Irish feminine given name with the pronunciation aɪliːn. It is the anglicised spelling of the Irish Gaelic Eibhlín, which derives from the Gaelic version of Aveline, Aibhilín.

**_Epilogue_ **

Harry's grief over Severus's death was absurd and alarming to many people, until he'd revealed -- during an interview with Luna Lovegood for the Quibbler -- that Severus Snape had been his soulmate.

His grief was partially outweighed, however, by the very odd news he received just after the final battle, during an exam with Madam Pomfrey. He was pregnant. Harry hadn't known wizards could get pregnant and, according to Hermione, not every wizard could, but magick had always been far above muggle technology, so it wasn't all that surprising that most wizards could, indeed, get pregnant.

Madam Pomfrey had lectured him about irresponsibility and safe-sex practices, but she'd relented when he'd told her he hadn't known, it had been a spur of the moment, in the middle of a war, type of thing and that the other father was, unfortunately, horribly, deceased.

***

His pregnancy progressed at the same time as he worked on the renovation and rehabilitation of Grimmauld Place. He removed the fireplaces from the Floo network and reconfigured the wards. He tore out walls, painted new tapestries to put up and sanded and sealed floors. He put in proper quarters for Kreacher, and took on Winky as an extra House-Elf, and she was very grateful for it.

The house shone. It was finally the kind of place where Harry thought he should raise his family.

***

As he got rounder, and bigger and bigger, Madam Pomfrey confirmed that it was twins, and not a singular fetus as she had originally thought.

He stressed out over names and nurseries and the raising of his children. 

When he thought about it, he realized that if he'd had children with anyone else, he would have wanted to name them after his parents and Sirius. But, since these were Severus's children too, he couldn't fathom naming them after people who had terrorized their other father, even though he was dead.

***

When his children were born, he settled on the origin-name of Severus's mother for the girl. He threw out almost all of his original choices for the boy, and instead went with Heathcliff. He considered having them both be Snape, as a last name, but then decided to go with Potter instead.

Aibhilín Lily Potter had dark, dark hair and bright green eyes while Heathcliff Severus Potter had bright, bronze hair and dark, nearly black eyes. They were the perfect combination of both Harry and Severus, and he was grateful for it each time he looked at them. They reflected both their fathers, fairly equally, in looks.

 

***

Dean and Seamus were the lucky ones, really. They'd figured it out very early on -- it was nearly impossible not to. They'd lived in each other's pockets for so long, that when they started having visions of their soulmates, they knew right away it was each other.

Other couples weren't so lucky.

Ginny had no idea where her visions were coming from, she only knew that they took place largely in the dungeons. It took weeks for Blaise to approach her and confirm his suspicions -- he'd had a lot of visions of a large group of redheads, and years earlier of the Chamber of Secrets.

Neville was supremely nervous about his soulmate, partially because he hadn't believed he liked blokes and partially because he had no idea how to console someone who had not only lost a brother, but a twin. George made it easy for him, after a while, because he wanted to put a family together and live his life in honor of Fred and he needed Neville's help to do that.

Some couples had things to work out before they could accept each other. 

Draco had to convince his mother that his soulmate was an acceptable match, and then had to convince Hermione he was serious.

Bill and Remus had the most unfortunate time, because it required Bill to divorce his wife, whom he already had a child with. Remus was raising his and Tonks' son by himself until they got things sorted, with the help of Andromeda, but it was a long and difficult road for the both of them. 

***

Some months after the twins were born, Lavender and Ron had a son -- Hugo Brown Weasley. He was the second child fathered by Ron, as a month or so after Harry's twins were born Hermione gave birth to a daughter that she hadn't realized she'd been pregnant with at the time of her and Ron's breakup. 

Draco and Hermione had another child, a few years later. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was a near carbon-copy of Draco in looks, but he was a sweet boy and didn't harbour any anti-muggle sentiments. Then again, with Hermione as his mother, that wasn't surprising.

Dean and Seamus started having children right away -- two of their kids (twin girls) would be at Hogwarts with Harry's twins. Aibhilín was best friends with Amanda Marie Thomas, but she didn't seem to get on with Bedelia Elaine Thomas. Two years or so later, Dean gave birth to a son Finnigan John Thomas.

Neville and George seemed like they were trying to repopulate the wizarding world. The same time the twins were born, Neville gave birth to a daughter (Roxanne Augusta Weasley) and then a year later, George gave birth to a son (Fred Gideon Weasley), and two years after that they had twin boys (Francis Prewett and Lysander Arthur Weasley), and again two years later, twin girls (Enid Camilla and Jordan Alice Weasley).

It took a long time for Ginny and Blaise to develop the trust needed for a committed, stable relationship, but eventually they had a daughter -- Aria Molly Zabini.  
***

As time went on, couples continued to come together, flourish and move forward.

Harry strove to be a good father and provide a stable, loving home for his two children. He did not date, he never married, and he never had more children. He was content with his life, just the way it was.

Soon enough, it was time for Aibhilín and Heathcliff to go off to Hogwarts -- the same year, in fact, that Harry accepted the post of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

***********************

END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be updating my other 3 or 4 HP fics that are all during Hogwarts. This was just a little fic that was stuck in my head.  
> I probably won't get back to them until next week, or the week after, though.  
> Thank you for reading!!!
> 
>  
> 
> So....timelines:  
> Aibhilín Lily Potter, Heathcliff Severus Potter, Hugo Brown Weasley, Rose Cassiopeia Malfoy, Amanda Marie Thomas, Bedelia Elaine Thomas, Roxanne Augusta Weasley will all be at Hogwarts together (same year).

**Author's Note:**

> Alan Rickman was a God. He will live on, in his many incarnations on film, forever. He will especially live on, for me, as Severus Snape. And although I did not know him, I miss him and still cannot believe we've lost him. 
> 
> RIP Alan Rickman.  
> 21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016


End file.
